Intermediate Natures: The Landscapes of Michel Desvigne

Intermediate Natures: The Landscapes of Michel Desvigne

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Designing Greenways: Sustainable Landscapes for Nature and People

Designing Greenways: 

Sustainable Landscapes for Nature and People

288 pages | PDF | 5 MB

How are greenways designed? What situations lead to their genesis, and what examples best illustrate their potential for enhancing communities and the environment? Designing greenways is a key to protecting landscapes, allowing wildlife to move freely, and finding appropriate ways to bring people into nature. This book brings together examples from ecology, conservation biology, aquatic ecology, and recreation

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Ritual House : Drawing on Nature’s Rhythms for Architecture and Urban Design

Ritual House : 

Drawing on Nature’s Rhythms

 for Architecture and Urban Design

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Construction Materials : Their Nature and Behaviour

Construction Materials : Their Nature and Behaviour

2010 | | PDF | 584 pages | 8.5 MB

 

 

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Ritual House : Drawing on Nature’s Rhythms for Architecture and Urban Design

Ritual House : 

Drawing on Nature’s Rhythms for Architecture and Urban Design

Ralph L. Knowles

The houses we dwell in, the cities surrounding our houses, even the clothes we wear—these are all shelters we erect against the elements. They are also the embodiment of intuitive rituals, individual and cultural responses to nature’s rhythms. Life in the 21st century has separated us from those traditions—now, Ritual House reawakens us to our lost natural heritage. Celebrated architect Ralph Knowles, Distinguished Emeritus at USC’s School of Architecture, has carefully crafted a book for architects, designers, planners—anyone who yearns to reconnect to the natural world through the built environment. He shows us how to re-examine a shadow, a wall, a window, a landscape, as they respond to the natural cycles of heat, light, wind, and rain. Analyzing methods of sheltering that range from a Berber tent to a Spanish courtyard to the cityscape of contemporary Los Angeles, Knowles shows us the future: by coining the concept of solar access zoning, he introduces a radical yet increasingly viable solution for tomorrow’s mega-cities. Understanding how the elements affect our lives is more vital than ever. High-energy enclosed building systems have cut us off from nature, but we can re-connect to our landscapes and to humanity through buildings that honor ecological balance, personal choice, and creativity. By engaging nature in our designs, we can create shelters that are unique to their climate, their region, and their relationship to the sun. Ritual House will take its rightful place among those classic works that become touchstones for the culture.

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Construction Materials : Their Nature and Behaviour

Construction Materials : Their Nature and Behaviour

Peter Domone, John Illston, 

2010 | | PDF | 584 pages | 8.5 MB

So far in the twenty-first century, there have been many developments in our understanding of materials’ behaviour and in their technology and use. This new edition has been expanded to cover recent developments such as the use of glass as a structural material. It also now examines the contribution that material selection makes to sustainable construction practice, considering the availability of raw materials, production, recycling and reuse, which all contribute to the life cycle assessment of structures. As well as being brought up-to-date with current usage and performance standards, each section now also contains an extra chapter on recycling.

Covers the following materials:

metals concrete ceramics (including bricks and masonry) polymers fibre composites bituminous materials timber glass.

This new edition maintains our familiar and accessible format, starting with fundamental principles and continuing with a section on each of the major groups of materials. It gives you a clear and comprehensive perspective on the whole range of materials used in modern construction. A must have for Civil and Structural engineering students, and for students of architecture, surveying or construction on courses which require an understanding of materials.

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